03.05.2022 14:16
Eintracht Frankfurt’s dream trip in the Bundesliga nightmare cup
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Frankfurt am Main – Bankruptcies in Ragrad or at Östersunds FK: That was the recent German past in the Europa League. After this season, history will be able to be rewritten a bit. This is mainly due to a club that lives the competition like no other: Eintracht Frankfurt!
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Now the party is really getting started: The Eintracht Frankfurt players are celebrating their entry into the semi-finals of the Europa League in Barcelona. © DPA/Arne Dedert
Franz Beckenbauer’s (76) words about the “Losers’ Cup” were ideal for over a decade – at least for the German starters in the Europa League.
Since the former UEFA Cup was renamed in 2009, the Bundesliga representatives have suffered bankruptcies every year. Sometimes they lost in Razgrad or Luhansk, then ambitious title contenders threw away all their chances against outsiders like Salzburg, Bern or Krasnodar. The image solidified more and more season after season: The Europa League and Germany just didn’t fit.
Eintracht Frankfurt sees it very differently. Only three years after the memorable run to the semi-finals, when it was only a penalty shoot-out against Chelsea, the Hessians are working on their next international coup.
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And even before moving into a possible German final against West Ham United on Thursday (9 p.m. / RTL). RB Leipzig can be made perfect, there are images that will remain: over 30,000 fans in Barcelona, a white victory party in the otherwise empty Camp Nou and the return of exuberance in your own stadium after two years of the pandemic.
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It could be the second international title for Eintracht Frankfurt
The Frankfurt players (lr) Wili Neuberger, Werner Lorant, Bernd Nickel, Bernd Hölzenbein, Bruno Pezzey, Fred Schaub and Bum-kun Cha celebrate winning the 1980 UEFA Cup. © dpa/Roland Witschel
If Frankfurt and Leipzig (at Glasgow Rangers) come through, Bundesliga football will be rehabilitated in the Europa League. In the first German final since the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in 2013, for the first time in exactly a quarter of a century a German team that is not called FC Bayern would be crowned European Cup winners. Back then – in 1997 – Dortmund won the Champions League and FC Schalke 04 the UEFA Cup.
“You have the feeling that there is only one topic at the moment,” said Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp (31). In football-mad Frankfurt, that’s the Europa League.
May 18th would be a football holiday, with tens of thousands traveling to Seville and tens of thousands more celebrating in the Main metropolis.
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For Oliver Glasner’s (47) team, it would probably amount to a dream trip with the motto “Barcelona 2.0” – without Camp Nou, but with the chance of the silver cup. It would be the second international title after winning the 1980 UEFA Cup.
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Eintracht Frankfurt’s performance in the Europa League is a feel-good story for many fans
Martin Hinteregger (left) and Co. celebrate the 2-1 win in the first leg of the semifinals at West Ham United. © DPA/Arne Dedert
In the commercialized and increasingly gigantic football business, many fans – including neutral ones – perceive Eintracht’s surprising performance as a kind of feel-good story. A decent team without world-class professionals and multimillion-dollar transfers defeats big clubs like Barcelona and is carried by team spirit, ambition and immense power, which is best visible through the loud crowds of fans.
Such headlines are much better received by many supporters than the next speculation about a Super League or transfer rumors with crazy sums in the millions.
Eintracht makes every effort to cultivate the image of the down-to-earth and fan-friendly club – a kind of antithesis to gigantism. Board spokesman Axel Hellmann (50) campaigned last week to stop the planned reform in the Champions League.
“When you take part in the Champions League, your coefficient increases, it becomes more and more of a closed system,” Hellmann told the AP news agency. “The national qualification is the most important door that should be kept open.”
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Hellmann warned against creating “your own monster” – according to his descriptions, this would be a Champions League in which only the rich play and get richer and richer. Eintracht does not belong to this elite circle, but could qualify for the premier class for the first time with a coup in Seville.
“I think the difference between the Europa League and the Champions League is too big,” Hellmann said. According to his own statements, he wants to stand up for the interests of middle-class clubs.
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Title photo: DPA / Arne Dedert
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